Gal Pals
by queenssaviour
Summary: "Emma honestly hasn't had a best friend in such a long time that when her relationship with her current best friend becomes something else, she doesn't even realize it until one day when she's practically proposing a date only to be told that there's nothing new about that." (Written for Swan Queen Week, Day Five: Best Friend Romance)


**AN: A big thank you to my wonderful beta, Ari. She's the most patient person ever.**

* * *

At first, Emma can't tell it's happening. It's honestly all in front of her, but she just misses all the signs despite "my gift to you is happy memories" and "you're better than this" and "maybe I need you."

She honestly hasn't had a best friend in such a long time that when her relationship with her current best friend becomes something else, she doesn't even realize it until one day when she's practically proposing a date only to be told that there's nothing new about that.

Emma is on her break, so she walks into Regina's office during her office hours like any other day. Regina usually doesn't mind her company – she even welcomes it – despite the fact that the Mayor gets fed up with anyone else disturbing her work day.

She has root beer with her because she knows Regina likes it and the Mayor has been happy when she's brought it before. When she walks into the office, Regina's head shoots up in confusion and slight irritation, but her expression softens when she sees it's her.

"Sheriff Swan. What a pleasant surprise," Regina says casually.

"Mayor Mills," she starts and feels a smile tug at the corners of her lips from just talking to Regina. They sometimes use their formal titles as a joke and a reminder of how far they've come with their friendship.

She's so happy to have Regina as her best friend. She's funny and beautiful; she's got such a strong character and she loves fiercely. She's so glad Regina was the one to raise their son because Henry truly got his best chance.

Regina seems to be preoccupied with something she's reading, but since she doesn't tell her to leave, Emma asks the question she came there for.

"Regina, do you wanna have dinner tonight? With candles and wine and everything." She thinks they both deserve a nice relaxing girls' night after having worked all week. She knows Regina likes candles and wine, so the idea is perfect for her best friend.

"And Henry?" Regina's gaze has been fixated on the papers in front of her too long for Emma's liking.

"No, just us," Emma clarifies. They should have a girls' night in.

"And also Henry?" Regina still asks, obviously not concentrating on what Emma is saying. She seems slightly irritated, but it may just be because of her work.

She tries again. "No, Henry will be at my parents'. Do you wanna have a nice candlelit dinner and watch a movie and drink wine?" Regina can choose the movie, of course.

Regina finally raises her line of sight from the papers she's been reading. "Yes," she replies with a smile, her disinterest gone. "Well, that sounds like our usual Saturday night. That's what friends do, right?"

That's when it hits her. She doesn't know how she hasn't seen it before. They have been doing this for ages, like best friends who just happen to have no other best friends and who happen to share a son.

But that's not what friends do, is it? She feels like she doesn't have any other close friends in Storybrooke, other than Ruby maybe, but now that she thinks about it, having a candlelit dinner every Saturday night isn't what best friends do. Emma practically living in the mansion is not what friends do. Thinking about Regina first thing in the morning and right before she goes to bed isn't friendly. It's romantic.

How has no one else noticed this? This has been going on for ages.

Then she thinks about it. Hook being jealous of Regina when Emma was still with him. Ruby commenting things like "gal pals" and "Emma, where did you leave your beloved bestie?" when Regina isn't with her. Snow pointing out they have become "awfully chummy" when she tells her mother she's going to Regina's again. Henry's constant eye rolling and leaving the room as quickly as he can after dinner.

"Emma?" Regina's voice pulls her from her thoughts. She's still standing in front of Regina's desk, and Regina's looking at her with concern in her eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm great," she quickly lies, because she honestly has no idea how to address the feelings she's just discovered. Her heart is pounding in her chest, and Regina must've noticed the blush creeping onto her cheeks by now. She feels unable to breathe and wants to flee the scene as soon as possible. "I'll see you tonight?"

"Yeah, it's a date," Regina says in a carefree tone as she turns back to her paperwork.

 _It's a date._ Emma places a bottle of root beer on Regina's table and leaves the Mayor's office shaking her head.

* * *

Emma figures she really needs to learn how to breathe normally before going back to work, so she goes to get coffee from Granny's in the hopes that that'll calm her down. She walks the whole way to the diner by muscle memory, not even realizing she's arrived until Ruby calls out her name.

"Emma!" Ruby exclaims and shoots her a smile. "Where did you leave Regina?" The waitress actually winks at her, and that does it.

"What the hell, Ruby?" she hisses. Has Ruby honestly known this whole time and never bothered to tell her?

Ruby's smirk falters, and she looks a bit hurt. "What?"

"Beloved bestie?" she spits out when she sees there isn't anyone else in the diner. She waves her hands, and her voice is higher than usual. " _Gal pals?_ You really could've just told me to my face."

"Ohhh," Ruby says as comprehension dawns on her and her smile returns. "Well, it was pretty obvious. Glad you finally figured it out. Did Regina tell you?" Her tone is awfully amused.

"No, Regina didn't tell me. She still thinks we're friends… which we are, but that's not the point," she stumbles on her words. "How did you actually realize it?"

"Well, I have eyes. Anyone can see it. I also have excellent hearing. Your heart beat races every time Regina is around or even mentioned. I honestly don't know how you didn't figure it out sooner. I've been betting with Snow which one of you gets it right first and how soon." Ruby laughs as she pours coffee into a cup in front of her.

Emma sits down on one of the bar stools, unable to stand any longer. Ruby and Snow have been betting on this? Who else knows? Probably everyone, apart from Regina.

"Snow knows?" she asks as she rests her head on the counter in front of her. This will be a long day, the dinner with Regina being the icing on the cake.

"Oh, she does," Ruby replies cheerfully. Emma can hear her smile. "Snow says Regina hasn't looked like this since she first met her. You know, when Regina was in love for the first time. Which I have no personal opinion on, but I can honestly say she looks awfully smitten. It's kinda gross. Snow thinks it's romantic, and she can't wait to invite Regina over for family dinners," Ruby concludes with a laugh.

Emma's head shoots up from the counter. "Seriously?"

"Yeah," Ruby nods as she slides the cup of coffee in front of Emma. "She talked about True Love, too."

"Oh my God," she manages to reply as she hides her head in her hands. She can feel her cheeks burning.

"So, here's what I suggest," Ruby continues since there are still no other customers in the diner other than Emma. "You woo her with your romantic dinner, as usual, then you have a talk about your feelings…" Emma looks at Ruby and is about to interrupt, but Ruby raises her hand. "If you aren't capable of talking about your feelings, have some more wine and look into her eyes lovingly or put an arm around her shoulder when you're watching a movie or something and then wait for a moment to kiss her. Trust me. I know this stuff."

Emma raises her brow at Ruby. Her friend makes it seem so easy. Emma is dying at the thought of just having dinner, and now she's supposed to be thinking about opening up about her feelings and kissing Regina? She knows Regina has become pretty tolerant of her actions, but the Mayor must draw a line somewhere, and Emma supposes that line might just be her best friend trying to kiss her.

"How do you even know she's not, like… really straight and won't totally freak out if I even imply there's something other than friendship that I feel towards her?" Emma says in a rush, finally voicing the recent fear that has popped into her head.

"Regina?" Ruby raises her voice as she smirks at her. "Emma, I don't think so. Honestly. Besides, we didn't use these labels in the Enchanted Forest, so you're just over-thinking it. She likes you. I can tell."

"Ehh," Emma manages to answer. She supposes Ruby is right about the label part, but that doesn't mean Regina likes her like she likes Regina.

"Now, drink your coffee, and we can plan the dinner that'll bring your galpalship to the next level," Ruby smirks.

Emma rolls her eyes. How has this become her life?

* * *

She somehow makes it through her work day, although David asks her if she's okay a few times. She ends up assuring him she is, but he doesn't seem convinced. When she mentions she has dinner with Regina later that night, David drops the subject and nods at her as if he's trying to convey some sort of understanding.

She sighs and fights against screaming out loud. Does everyone know?

She goes to her parents' loft before her dinner with Regina to pick out something to wear. As she goes through her clothes for a while, she wonders why she can't find anything nice until she realizes that all her good stuff is already _at Regina's house in the drawer she has there_. She exhales loudly as she starts to wonder how she has been so blind and why Regina hasn't said anything.

Then she realizes Regina doesn't really have any other friends, so maybe she wouldn't know what to do with a best friend now that she has one. Regina would probably let her sleep in her bed in the name of a besties' sleepover if Emma just asked. She actually has once, but they were both drunk, and the guest room (otherwise known as Emma's room) seemed too far away, so she just slept in the same bed with Regina. There might've been some cuddling and spooning at some point, but Emma took it as a drunken bonding moment.

She honestly doesn't know how she has been so clueless.

She slams the closet door shut and decides to wear what she's wearing now or maybe change at Regina's. As she makes her way downstairs, she can feel Snow and Henry's knowing eyes on her, and she tries not to be angry with them. In reality, she just wants to wipe the smug smiles off their faces when they say goodbye because she's feeling anything but smug herself. She feels frustrated and confused and hopeless.

She doesn't even know if she can say anything. Despite Ruby's advice, she has no idea how the bring up the whole _I'm in love with my best friend_ topic to the friend in question.

She realizes what she's just thought and is glad she hasn't blurted it out before at some inconvenient moment. She's in love with Regina? She would rather not approach the subject since being in love has never worked out too well for her in the long run, but she still realizes that that must be the case. She has never felt this way about anyone, her adult dating life being failure after failure and her first love with Neal having struck her fast without them knowing much about each other. The situation with Regina is completely different, the other woman having crept up on her and becoming a person Emma can't imagine living without anymore.

Emma shakes her head as she approaches 108 Mifflin Street. She opens the door with _her_ key, the key Regina gave her since she "spends so much time there anyway" and "it's easier for Henry." She doesn't know how her getting in with her own key makes anything easier for Henry, but she had never questioned it before since Regina saying it in her smart determined voice always made so much sense to her.

She has noticed Regina doesn't really pay attention to whether or not she's there, letting Emma come and go as she pleases with her key. She shakes her head when she remembers Regina's malicious tone from her first year in Storybrooke. _Do what you're so skilled at and make yourself at home_. Now that she finally pretty much has, Regina has been anything but unhappy about it, feeding Emma several times a week and letting her sleep over whenever she pleases without a second thought.

She makes her way upstairs to the guest bathroom and takes a shower without even checking if Regina's home already. Emma doesn't want to look for her, because she honestly doesn't know what to say yet. She takes her time in the shower, zoning out as she tries to come up with a perfect way to voice her feelings, but coming up empty-handed.

She feels incredibly uneasy; she wants to run or cancel the dinner, but that would be rude towards Regina since Emma came up with the idea in the first place. Making Regina sad is the last thing she wants to do. Making Regina furious isn't too high on her list, either, but she guesses she might still end up doing that if she actually comes clean about her feelings and Regina doesn't reciprocate them.

After her shower and changing into her new white sweater and black jeans that make her feel more presentable, she makes her way downstairs to see if Regina's home already. Since there's lasagna in the oven, she guesses that Regina must be somewhere in the mansion, having arrived while Emma was in the shower. Or maybe she has been there the whole time, because there's _lasagna_ in the oven. Doesn't that take long? She isn't sure.

She shrugs and takes a wine bottle out of a kitchen cabinet. She bought it a while ago because she knows it's Regina's favorite, and she wanted to get the best wine for her best friend. Emma rolls her eyes at her past self.

She sets the table, having learned how Regina likes it by now. She's pretty sure she spends more time at Regina's than at her parents' and she definitely has dinner here more often. She cringes when she thinks of the domesticity their relationship has reached. No wonder everyone talks about them behind their backs.

Just as she finishes setting the table, she hears the click of heels emerging from upstairs, and soon after Regina walks into the room. Her friend is wearing a black dress that looks amazing on her, although Emma's sure Regina could wear a garbage bag and still look better than anyone else. A beautiful smile breaks across Regina's face when she greets her, and Emma can feel her heart hammering in her chest as she stammers, "Hi, Regina."

She can't remember when she's last felt this awkward, but she guesses actually acknowledging her feelings has this effect on her. She can't help noticing how her heart keeps pounding or how her hands are sweaty and her mouth dry. Has she always acted like this around Regina but never noticed, or has knowing how she feels made her body respond this way?

Whatever the reason is, Regina seems to notice the change in her behavior rather fast.

"Emma, are you okay?" Regina asks as she moves closer to her and _completely platonically_ brings her hand to her arm. Her face is concerned and Emma's gaze falls on her painted lips for a second before she realizes that's totally inappropriate.

"Yeah, I just…" she starts but struggles to find the ending of her response. It's hard to concentrate when Regina is practically stroking her arm. "… thought of something. Don't worry. You wanna eat?"

Regina doesn't seem convinced, but she lets it go and pulls her hand away. "Sure."

Emma manages a smile (that may come out more nervous than she intended, but it's a smile nonetheless). Maybe she can't go through this dinner as gracefully as she would like to, but it won't be for lack of trying.

Everything goes normally first. They have their servings of lasagna in front of them and the wine has been opened, but then Regina seems to remember the last part of Emma's suggestion. She flicks her wrist and smiles as the electric lights go out and the room is illuminated by nothing but candlelight. There must be at least a dozen candles, but Emma decides against actually counting them. She feels like the star of a supernatural romantic comedy. How have they had dinner like this so many times before and she's never found it one bit weird? How does Regina not find this weird?

Even though she's feeling overwhelmed, she goes through dinner without trying to show it. Luckily, the wine helps her relax a bit and talk normally again, but she refrains from bringing up the one topic she probably should and ends up complimenting the apple pie Regina's made for dessert instead.

"I picked the apples this morning just for you," Regina tells her with a smirk in her eyes. "If you like them, I'd be happy to make the pie again soon."

"Yeah, I'll always be here for apple pie or anything else. This is the best thing I've ever tasted," she replies without thinking as she savors the flavor.

They're on their third glass of wine and watching one of Regina's ridiculous chick flicks no one would guess the Mayor likes when Regina leans on her shoulder and makes Emma scream inside her head in the process. Emma can smell Regina's shampoo and feel the heat of her body next to hers, and she can barely stay still on the couch.

She asks herself for the umpteenth time that night how she can ever have thought nothing more of this sort of cuddling. This is not best friends having a movie night. She's burning and she wants to turn Regina's head so that they're facing each other and then bring her into a searing kiss that's long overdue.

She feels like she could almost do it, but at the same time she knows she won't. She's too scared of Regina's reaction and ruining their friendship, because she honestly doesn't know how she could live without it anymore. She is perfectly content with staying friends and not telling Regina about her growing feelings if that's the only way of keeping Regina in her life and avoiding the awkwardness that would follow her confession.

"Look, they have more candles than we had," Regina says in an amused tone and pulls Emma out of her thoughts, her finger pointing at the big television screen. "I need to try that next time."

Emma looks at the television screen, completely unaware of what has happened in the movie during the last fifteen minutes. The couple seems to be having dinner surrounded by at least 50 candles, and they're smiling like idiots in love. Seeing them smile, so certain of each other's feelings, makes Emma jealous.

"Yeah, well, they seem to be having a pretty big date," she replies because she figures she has to say something.

"Yes, we wouldn't want that now, would we?" Regina says in a tone that may sound carefree to a person who doesn't know Regina, but Emma catches the hint of bitterness in it straight away.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asks before she can stop herself, knowing that whatever comes out of Regina's mouth next can't be good.

"Really, Emma?" Regina snarks at her, frustrated as she lifts her head from Emma's shoulder and turns to face her. "You really are as clueless as your parents, although even they must know by now."

Emma is left completely speechless. She's not sure what Regina is saying, but she knows she's somehow managed to upset her during this last minute despite her best attempts at not doing that. She really doesn't know what to do when Regina is mad at her. She just ends up apologizing over and over again and following her like a puppy, hoping that something she says will make a difference. She really doesn't want to do that again, so she hopes they can work this out before it gets that far.

Regina is groaning uncharacteristically with her face in her hands. She really wants to put her arm on Regina's shoulder to make her feel better, but she doesn't want to upset her more.

"Regina, I'm sorry for whatever it is I did wrong." She doesn't know what she's done, but she is sorry.

"Oh my God, Emma," Regina groans, still not looking at her. "You really don't get it."

Emma goes through their dialogue of the last minute and tries to figure out where she could've gone wrong. A possibility that seems too far-fetched and is wishful thinking at best dawns on her. She almost doesn't dare say it, but she has to do something.

"Wait… You wouldn't wanna be on a date right now… with, like…" she manages to verbalize even though her mouth is getting dryer by the second. "With someone… or… me?"

Regina finally takes her hands away from her face. The guilty sad look she's wearing nearly makes Emma's heart stop. Suddenly she doesn't know how to breathe, and oh God, does Regina actually like her back?

"Maybe," Regina answers quietly and looks away.

That's all she has to hear. She brings her hand to Regina's cheek and pulls her into a kiss, her hand shaking but still cupping Regina's face. She feels incredibly clumsy, her lips on Regina's soft sweet ones and their bodies too far away from each other in relation to their faces.

She realizes Regina isn't kissing her back and almost panics. Maybe she has horribly miscalculated Regina's response, and maybe Regina is too shocked to say no and push Emma away, but then Regina seems to realize what's going on, and Emma can feel her lips move against hers.

Emma can't believe what's happening, her hands still trembling as their lips move together. Regina takes the hand that has been cupping her cheek and laces their fingers, which soothes Emma enough to calm her shaking hands. They continue soft tentative kisses for a while until Emma really needs to breathe. As she pulls away, she can see Regina scrunch her brow adorably at the loss of contact before opening her eyes.

"Oh my God," Emma manages to say as they're looking each other in the eye, still holding hands.

"Yes, well…" Regina starts in a hoarse voice and a hint of a smirk. The frustration and hurt that was there just a few moments ago is long gone. "I wasn't expecting that."

"I should've done that sooner," she thinks out loud.

"Well, you could've, but you just seemed to want to be friends despite us doing the whole romantic dinner and a movie thing and you basically living here. I was kind of frustrated when you came to my office today, because we always do this and it's still just best friends to you… I admit I don't have any other friends, so I don't know if that's what best friends just do, but you… you kissed me."

"How long have you been thinking about this?" Emma queries, completely dumbstruck by the fact that Regina has thought about this so much while she only realized what was going on earlier that day.

"A while," Regina says and rolls her eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asks a bit more impatiently than she intended.

"Well, I tried to hint towards it, but you just didn't seem to have a clue. Everything was always about friendly gestures to you, and you kept rubbing it in my face." Regina rolls her eyes again.

She really is an idiot. Wow.

Regina smiles at her a bit uncertainly, so she feels the need to reassure that her feelings are more than returned and she brings their lips together again. This kiss ends up being more powerful, with teeth and tongues and Regina pulling at her lower lip.

They eventually fall on the couch, she above Regina as they continue kissing. Emma can feel Regina's body move against hers, and she smiles when the brunette's hands find their way to her back and slide up and down her sides, finally landing on her hips.

"Such a nice girls' night. Just best friends hanging out," Emma mumbles into the kiss. She can't help herself.

Regina pulls away from her, unamused, her brow scrunched and mouth pouty. It's hard to take her too seriously with her disheveled hair and lipstick smeared across her face, but Emma decides not to say that out loud.

"What, too soon?" she asks instead, trying to keep her smirking to a minimum.

"A little," Regina replies in a throaty voice and blinks a few times.

"Sorry," she apologizes before she slowly goes back to kissing Regina. She's starting to get used to the new situation, her hands not shaking anymore and their bodies flush against each other on the couch. She finally dares to move her hand to Regina's waist, too, and is rewarded by content humming when she tentatively continues the journey upward towards Regina's chest.

"Yes," Regina whispers into the kiss when Emma's hand squeezes her breast through the fabric of the black dress. The way Regina says it encourages her, so she continues palming the breast as she moves to plant a trails of kisses on Regina's jaw and neck. She can hear Regina's breaths become ragged as she continues kissing her and nibbles on the delicate skin.

"Emma," Regina finally whines, her voice so different compared to what Emma is used to. "Emma?"

She raises her head and looks into Regina's brown eyes. For a second she thinks she has done something wrong, but Regina's eyes are full of desire and she looks anything but dissatisfied with their current situation, so that's probably not the case.

"Yeah?"

"Would you…" Regina starts asking uncertainly. "This couch is rather uncomfortable. Would you like to take this upstairs?"

Emma doesn't understand why on Earth Regina looks so uncertain, like she's afraid of being rejected. It should be more than obvious that Emma wants this as much as she does.

"Yes, of course," she breathes out. Butterflies appear in her stomach as she tries to keep her voice even. "You're sure this is not going too fast?"

"Well… In my opinion, this is long overdue…" Regina suggests.

She nods in agreement and smiles. It really is.

Emma feels the hand on her neck pull her down to press their lips together in a new kiss, and suddenly she feels magic move them to a new location. When she opens her eyes, she can see purple smoke evaporate and she's straddling Regina on the queen-size bed upstairs. She can't hold back her grin as she presses another kiss on Regina's lips, very happy that she has fallen in love with her best friend.

* * *

 **This was supposed to be rated K+ but things escalated kinda quickly there and I figured no one would mind that much. Anyway, I hope you liked it!**

 **This was the first (and probably last) fic I've written in present tense, and it was actually sort of terrible to write and I almost lost my mind, so let me know if you actually liked the story, please? :D**


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